I'm home
by The Ice Within
Summary: How can two words- i'm home- trigger so much for the Sohmas? Why are they- all 12 zodiacs and the cat and Shishou- gathering in Shigure's house. What has happened one year earlier that makes them all break down in tears?


He looked up at the dark blue sky from the edge of the roof, tracing the constellations with his eyes. He tried everything forget about it, to forget the sorrow, to put it into the past. But it wasn't in the past, and never will. He lived his days as if it just happened, if was too painful.

A movement caught his eye at the edge of the forest, and two dark, shadowy figures appeared from the within the trees, dressed in black. They walked swiftly into the garden, and then into the house. What troubled him was that they didn't look sneaky; they weren't scared that they would be caught, as if they weren't doing anything wrong. But if they weren't doing anything bad, why dress in black?

He leaped smoothly down the roof and raced into the house, banging the living door open. He froze, "What are you all doing here?" he asked in bewilderment.

"What do you think? It's been one year, you stupid cat. Do you ever listen when people talk?" Yuki answered, but his voice lost the usual mocking and edge.

Anger boiled inside him- but it wasn't directed towards Yuki, it was towards that person. The idiot person that pretended she was a boy. He refused to let the memory come back, so he ran out of the house, past building after building, leaving the 12 zodiacs and Shishou behind in the house, escaping their pitying looks. _Why do they have to gather in our house? Is it just because a year before, the event happened in the living room of Shigure's house? Containing the same people- the 12 zodiacs and Shishou?_

He ran quickly, and didn't stop to catch his breath until he came into view of grand house, slightly bigger than Shigure's house. He looked up at the lit windows, and sighed. Climbing onto the balcony of the second floor, he spied on the girl. Her face lit up happily as she spoke to her 'family'.

Kyou Sohma shook his head furiously, they weren't her family, how could they be? They were merely a bunch of idiots who adopted her after the incident. He peered into the house, looking around, surveying the living room and the people occupying the place. His gaze stop on the girl, taking in her beautiful, immature features- the loving and caring eyes that opened all their hearts, breaking the curse. _Tohru Honda,_ Kyou thought sadly.

Tohru turned around to look outside, and her eyes fell on him, before he could duck down, their gazes locked. A flicker of recognition appeared in her eyes, but it died out as fast as it came. _It was just my imagination, _he thought, _how could she remember me? It's impossible, stop dreaming Kyou, _he scolded himself.

He trudged back into the house, sat down as far away as possible from Kaguya and the rest of the Sohmas as possible. There was deadly silence in the room, no one spoke, and by the look on their faces, Kyou knew that they were thinking about the same thing he was thinking about… the memories flooded back, piecing themselves together, completing the unfinished puzzle. No matter how hard Kyou refused to think about it, it still came back.

"_How dare you? How dare you lift the curse?" Akito banged her fist angrily on the table, "now no one would listen to me, I am no threat to them anymore."_

_Her glare pierced through each of them, locking on to Yuki, Shigure, Kyou and Hatori individually. Then at last, she looked at her 'victim' and asked again, "I asked you a question, Tohru, answer me- how dare you lift the curse?"_

_Tohru trembled, but held her head high, meeting Akito's gaze calmly, "I did what was to be done. They all wanted freedom, and they could get freedom- so why not give it to them?"_

_Akito let out a roar of frustration, "Because, you idiot, it's not suppose to be like this. They were all so happy when they had the curse. The only barrier that the curse had was that they couldn't hug anyone of the opposite sex- and I'm totally fine with that. I don't want any hugging and kissing going on over here. Love is a crime in the Sohma's household."_

_Tohru whimper. None of them had expected it to end like this. Akito stood up and walked towards Tohru, pulling her hair, punching her, but Tohru refused to let out a sound._

"_Erase her memory, erase everything she knows about the Sohmas!" Akito had commanded, looking straight at Hatori._

Kyou flinched as the memory played in his mind. He slowly closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. It has been one year, _one year, _since Tohru's memory was erased. She moved out of the Sohma and the family adopted her- the family she lived with now.

Shigure broke the tense silence; "It has been one year since she… since she moved out. We all honor her and love her for all the things she did for us. She'll forever remain in our memories." He took a deep breath, "We gather here today, like we had on the Day, one year before, all 12 Zodiac members and Shishou, remembering and treasuring the happy moments we had spent together." He stopped, unable to go on as a lone tear trickled down his cheek.

As if taking that as a sign, everyone started sobbing, breaking down. Even Kyou turned his face away, wiping away the single tear that had trickled down, tracing his cheek, stopping on his jaws, then slowly landed on his hand, as if it had flowed through the timeline of Tohru's life with the Sohmas, leaving a faint line behind. The scar that would make them remember her, forever.

"_I'll remember all of you forever. I'm so grateful and happy that I knew you all. It has been, and will be, the best years of my life- and I'll never forget them, I promise. Even if I appear to forget, deep inside my heart, you will be there." Tohru said before giving everyone a hug, thinking once again, how good it was to hug them without going through the shock that they would turn into their Zodiac form. _

_She smiled, and turned to Hatori, "Get it over with, please."_

_Hatori couldn't meet her gaze, and then softly, gently, he put his hand on her forehead, "Forget them, forget everything…"_

They were all enveloped in their own memories with Tohru, their hero, and their savior.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door, too soft to be heard. Gradually, the knock got louder, harder and more forcible. As if the knocker finally got up the courage to knock. Shishou stood up to answer the door; Kyou heard his footsteps walk towards the door, and then suddenly stopped.

"To…Tohru?" they all heard him stutter.

They all crowded at the living room door, near enough to hear her speak the two words that lifted all their hopes. The candle that has been blown out flickered back to life, lightning their spirits and souls.

"Say that again?" Shishou said softly.

"I'm home," she said.

**A/N- So, if your confused, the 'I'm home' means that she remembered everything about the Sohmas. Her memory was erased, but then she remembered at last…**


End file.
